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Old March 3rd, 2010 #68
Joe_J.
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Ellenese Brooks-Simms
Quote:
Federal prosecutors are recommending that former Orleans Parish School Board member Ellenese Brooks-Simms receive a drastically downgraded sentence for turning on her benefactor, political operative Mose Jefferson, and helping to ensure his conviction on bribery charges.

In a motion filed on Wednesday, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman to give Brooks-Simms 18 months instead of the six- to seven-year prison term called for by federal sentencing guidelines.

Brooks-Simms wore a wire tap that captured Jefferson proposing a variety of cover stories to ward off federal investigators. After pleading guilty to a single bribery count, she endured over a day of testimony at Jefferson's trial.

Jefferson was convicted of paying Brooks-Simms $100,000 in bribes for her support of the algebra software he was peddling. Based on Brooks-Simms' wiretap recordings, he was also convicted of two counts of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison.

Brooks-Simms is scheduled to be sentenced by Feldman on March 11. Her daughter, Stacy Simms, pleaded guilty to a related charge and will be sentenced on the same day by a different judge.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/..._should_g.html


Mose Jefferson
Quote:
Mose Jefferson is scheduled to go on trial later this month for his part in a scheme that allegedly bilked the government of millions of dollars in nonprofit grants. His sister, Betty Jefferson, pleaded guilty last week to a single federal conspiracy count in the same case, resigning her post as 4th District assessor a few days later.

Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the most prominent of the Jefferson siblings, was sentenced in November to 13 years in federal prison for what a prosecutor described as "the most extensive and pervasive pattern of corruption in the history of Congress."

"I'm glad the government recognized her extraordinary cooperation," Capitelli said of Brooks-Simms. "There really wasn't anyone willing to stand up to the Jefferson gang. She wore a wire and made the case against Mose Jefferson. She's done a lot to help the whole community."

Perricone's motion describes the school board member's quick capitulation, once she was presented with evidence of her crime. She soon blossomed into a model government witness.

On May 2, 2007, FBI agents confronted Brooks-Simms about the $100,000 she had accepted from Jefferson in return for her support of a $6.9 million contract to purchase "I CAN Learn" algebra software.

Five days later, she "readily admitted" that the payments were bribes and informed investigators of an additional $40,000 she received from Jefferson, according to the motion.

"Her bold honesty and truthfulness convinced the agents and Assistant U.S. Attorneys that Ellenese Brooks-Simms was willing to cooperate in the investigation of this entire matter," Perricone wrote.

According to the motion, Brooks-Simms described in detail "how Mose Jefferson paid her, why he paid her and where he paid her." She was also instrumental in obtaining guilty pleas from two others: her daughter, Stacy Simms, and former School Board contractor Burnell Moliere.

Brooks-Simms' trial appearance was especially grueling because of Jefferson's accusation that he had an affair with her in the 1980s, Perricone wrote, noting that her husband, Melvin Simms, died about two months before she took the stand. While prosecutors called Jefferson's accusation a fabrication, they did not put Brooks-Simms back on the stand to dispute it.
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